After three kids who were content to sit in their strollers, my fourth is a runner. My days of sadly shaking my judgemental head at “those parents” who leash or harness their kids at theme parks? Over.

One nerve wracking afternoon at Disney was enough to convince me to try something, anything, that would allow me to put my little runner down, but keep him close and out of harms way. He may be only 19 months old, but he’s fast! His feet fly and he has no fear. That’s scary.

What I love about the Safe2Go Harness is that it is cleverly disguised as a plush backpack. It’s pretty cute so my son is happy to wear it and feel like big boy. The pack opens and you can store some small items inside. How this works as a harness is that the backpack has a retractable line concealed within. In the unit that we received to test, a monkey, the line is attached to a banana. Grab the banana from the Monkey’s mouth and the line is pulled out. We can hang onto that banana and stroll along attached to our son, or we can wait till he gets a little too adventurous and then make a grab for the banana. Either way, that little monkey of ours is happier, and so are we, knowing he is safer.

I have to admit, it felt a little odd to have my child on a retractable tether. But when I consider the alternative (screaming in a stroller, running away and getting lost) it’s a no brainer. Plus this product is so cute and cleverly disguised that it takes away the sting of other parents’ judgments (as well as my own). I’m so glad that there is a harness out there that is cute and not demeaning to wear/use. I’d recommend this product to anyone who has a runner like mine!